CARD KING Gavin Murphy (@GamePlanGavin) marks your bookings card for the Group D concluder between Czech Republic and Turkey on Tuesday night.
Czech Republic v Turkey | Tuesday 20.00 | ITV4
A famous Euro 2008 meeting will be on the minds of both sides as the Czech Republic take on Turkey in their final Euro 2016 Group D game.
The Czech Republic have encountered Turkey nine times since independence with their record W5-D1-L3 (W1-D0-L2 in competitive games).
The countries qualified for Euro 2016 from Group A, the Czech Republic taking top spot and Turkey going through as the best third-placed team. Each beat the other away from home, the Czechs prevailing 2-1 in Istanbul thanks to Borek Dockal’s winner. Turkey turned the tables with a 2-0 triumph in Prague through a Selcuk Innan penalty and a Hakan Calhanoglu finish.
Their only other competitive meeting was a five-goal thriller at Euro 2008, Fatih Terim’s Turkey coming from two down to win 3-2 in Geneva. Two late Nihat Kahveci goals pushed them into the quarter-finals while eliminating their opponents.
In Group D, Spain have qualified but will finish second if they are beaten by Croatia, who need only a draw to progress.
Should Croatia lose to the Spaniards, then the Czech Republic will finish level on points with them if they beat Turkey, with goal difference or disciplinary records likely to decide who takes second spot.
Turkey will finish third with a win and that may still mean progression in this new tournament format. There were six cards shown when these two countries met in October.
William Collum gets the whistle here. He gave three cards in his only Euro 2016 match involving hosts France and Albania. His average in the qualifiers though was much higher at 5.40 cards-per-game.
The average number of cards shown at this stage in the past two tournaments is 5.25.
I believe Collum will revert to type here and both sides will be keen to make the most of this last opportunity.
Turkey owe us after some limp performances against superior opposition in Spain and Croatia. They are more evenly matched with the Czechs and I’m confident of collecting on Over 4.5 Cards with Bet365 at 4/5.
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Czech Republic v Turkey – Over 4.5 Cards (4/5 Bet365)
